WASHINGTON INSIGHT

READ MY LIDS: The Foggy Bottom pooh-bah was petrified. “Oh, God, this is the end of my career. I’m finished,” he thought upon seeing, halfway through a briefing he was giving, that Secretary of State Warren Christopher had his eyes shut, seemingly sound asleep. But when the briefing was over, Christopher suddenly snapped to and let loose a barrage of questions. The pooh-bah relaxed . . . . Other top State Department officials report having had the same experience--but have put aside fears that Christopher, 67, was either not up to snuff or bored senseless. Realizing that it is merely the way he concentrates, they have learned to keep an intense watch on his eyelids--and to be ever ready for that eye-opening moment.